And then she crawled out from under a half-unpacked box...

Whew! Sunday morning and I am enjoying my first pot of coffee brewed in the new house, while my boys are both napping upstairs. If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that I dropped the ball a bit on my 30 consecutive days of blogging. (If you've been paying attention that closely, I have to wonder if you might have some time on your hands...)

I honestly thought about blogging a couple of times in the past four days, but up until yesterday it was pretty much physically impossible. Between getting out of the old place, into the new place, and getting the condo cleaned and ready for renters; not to mention work for both of us, we have been going nonstop this week.

There have been lots of moments of joy in the last few days... Looking out the window into our amazing new backyard my second morning in the house (because the first morning I was out the door by 6:15 before I could see the backyard). Having the company and support of my mother-in-law, dad and aunt on three separate days while we tried to get everything accomplished. Collapsing on the couch together Thursday night with a bottle of wine when we were too tired to move anymore. Watching MLM go excitedly up and down the new half-flight of stairs over and over. And over. And over....

And of course there have been some challenges, too. Finding some new and interesting plumbing leaks; and realizing that it's going to take a while to replace the vacant-house smell with something more comforting and familiar. Discovering last night that the clothes washer left by the previous owner -- the reason we left our washer and dryer behind for the tenant's use -- doesn't really work when there are actual clothes in it. It passed the home inspection because the inspector, obviously, didn't actually wash anything. (Wherever she is, I'm sending the seller a big cosmic "thank-you" for that one.)

And in non-house news, there's been lots of teeth-gnashing as my beloved Alma Mater seems determined to have a losing football season this year; and the Atlanta Braves are taking the MLB wild-card race down to the final game this afternoon.

But the good news is that post-season baseball, and even a disappointing start to college football, mean fall is here nonetheless. I am so excited to have a yard to enjoy with my little guy as the beautiful, crisp fall days are upon us. It's going to be really fun exploring our new neighborhood and setting up our house as we look toward the cozy days of the end of the year.

We might be a little smelly snuggled up in our unwashed clothes, listening to the drip of the pipes in the basement; but we'll be in our home, together. And that's enough!

I'm on a Roll, Baby!

Today I am Superwoman. I'm feeling totally empowered, focused, and ready to take on the world. For some reason, I've been up since 5 a.m. (Hint: think 16 pounds of drool and happiness); and in those three hours my mind has somehow landed in a random groove of productivity. I think it's that "in the zone" feeling I always hear people talk about. Either that or it's the third cup of coffee!!

Either way, I have been planning like a maniac, not just for the week but for the whole dang year.

Last week was a little overwhelming for me, especially in my professional world; but I am totally going to rock this week! I can feel it!! Happy Monday!

Quick Addendum and Advice from the Barista

I guess all that writing about almond lattes yesterday got to me - I was running an early errand this morning and decided to stop in for one. That's when I found out Starbucks no longer has almond flavoring! First they're closing 600 stores and now this??? What is the world coming to??

[By the way, for those who don't know me very well yet, that is totally fake outrage. I actually strongly prefer independent coffee shops to the Seattle Giant, although I'm not so righteous about it (obviously) that I don't use the Starbucks drivethru occasionally for convenience].

Nonetheless, I expressed my surprise to the chick in the green apron as she handed me a cinnamon dolce latte instead.

I said, "I can't believe you don't have almond anymore."
And she said, "Yeah, it's actually been gone for a while now."
And I said, "Really? I guess haven't ordered one in a while. I'm surprised."

And she said "Well, life changes. Things get discontinued. You have to move on."

Amen to that, Starbucks Barista. You have to move on.

Lesson #28: Listen to your body, even when your body is an irrational idiot.

For some unknown reason, my internal clock decided to go off this morning before 4:30 a.m. This seems to happen to me more and more these days -- of course, never on those days when I need to be up early for something. It's always on a day like today when I'll be working until 9:00 p.m. and I'll need half a case of Diet Mountain Dew to keep me going.

In general, I try to listen to my body as much as possible -- I've found that it's a good harbinger of what I really need: physically, emotionally, and mentally. I'm starting to develop a pretty decent relationship with my inner signals and what they mean, and my life has definitely been better for it.

On days like today, however, it's more like arguing with Lumbergh from Office Space:

Body: Um, yeah. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm going to need you to go ahead and get up now.

Self: Wha? No... no... [soft whimper]

Body: Um, yeah. Unfortunately, that's the word from upper management. Apparently it's hot here and we're hungry, so we're going to have to ask you to go ahead and just get up. Out of the bed. It's nothing personal.

Self, blearily: It's 4:17. You've got to be kidding. I have to work a 12 hour day today. I need some sleep.

Body: Well, you know, if it were up to me, I would absolutely let you sleep in. I'm all about that whole "sleep until the alarm goes off" philosophy. Sure, it never won any battles, but ---

Self: Wait. What? What are you saying?

Body: Nothing. No, nothing at all. It's just... well, I don't want to tell you how to do your job or anything, but it kind of seems like maybe you haven't crossed much off the old "To Do" list lately -- haven't posted a blog in a week or so -- and maybe there are some things....

Self: You don't think I'm productive enough?

Body: Not what I'm saying. Of course not - sure you are. You're great and all. I'm just saying that maybe someone who sleeps a little less might get more accomplished. That's all. You're fine. Really. You know what? Why don't you just go on and go back to sleep? We'll just be productive another time.

Self: Well, okay I guess .......... But, now I'm awake.

Body: Super. Now get me some coffee.